Our Language May Shape Our Saving Habits (TED)

According to economist Keith Chen, the language you speak can affect how much money you’ll save for the future. Chen found that people who speak languages that distinguish between the past, present and future, such as English, save less than those whose languages don’t differentiate the tenses so markedly, like Chinese, which uses the same phrasing to describe events of yesterday, today and tomorrow, according to TED.

In a recent blog post, TED has come up with other examples of how language influences us, from our orienteering skills to treatment of prisoners and perception of color.

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